ImagesMagUK-July-2020

KB 54 images JULY 2020 www.images-magazine.com MARKET INTELLIGENCE Ryan Sutherland, operations co-ordinator at Barrow Association Football Club, discusses the importance of sports merch revenue while matches are suspended, and the benefits of using local suppliers On the ball local suppliers, Fingerprints and 17Sport, for around 95% of our merchandise, which has really helped. Have you increased the range of products that you sell since the lockdown? We have increased the number of items available thanks to the local suppliers I mentioned. Early on in lockdown it became obvious that online shopping was starting to boom and so we worked with them to introduce a range that they could produce quickly at low quantities. That meant that we could introduce a new range with relatively low risk and without needing to commit to holding high stock levels, which helps our cashflow in these tough times. This has mainly been an expanded range of mugs, coasters and T-shirts. How important are merch sales to the club at the moment while no games are being played? Our merchandise sales have always been important to us, it is always a key source of income for a club like Barrow, but the volume of sales we have seen in the last couple of months have been How have your online shop sales during lockdown compared to the same period last year? Since we played our last game in mid- March, our online shop orders have increased by over 200% compared to the same period last year. That includes May 2019 when we were selling season tickets online, so in reality merchandise sales are up by even more. A fairer comparison would be the figures for this month so far (1-9 June). Our sales compared to that period last year are up 576%. What have been your bestsellers so far over the lockdown period? There hasn’t really been anything that we could identify as a natural bestseller over the lockdown period; we have been quite surprised how well everything has done across the board. That said, we have run several special offers, which have been really well received. These offers have been based on two things: items that we had a lot of stock of which we would need to sell before we could re-stock for the next season; and items that we can get quickly, even in the current circumstances. We use Online shop sales have been a vital source of cash for Barrow AFC during the lockdown particularly important. In reality, it is one of very few revenue streams left open to us until we start playing again and we recognised early on that we had to take full advantage of it. Our supporters are incredibly generous in their backing of the club and they have blown us away with their generosity in terms of fundraising, raffles, etc, during lockdown. However, our online shop enables them to support us financially whilst we also give them something back by providing them with Barrow merchandise to show off, so it’s really a win-win for everyone. Will you be introducing branded face masks for fans to buy? Yes! Our local supplier has recently introduced these to their range so we will be looking to get these in our online store in the next few weeks. What can branded merch suppliers do to help football clubs like Barrow AFC at the moment? Speaking from our experience, our success has very much been based on two things: low minimum order quantities – very few football clubs will have thousands to spend on merchandise this summer so we certainly won’t be going out and ordering hundreds of anything. There is always an element of risk in introducing a new product and the financial aspect of that risk is something that you can’t take a chance on at the moment. Also, communication with our suppliers – we have had very open discussions with our suppliers about the challenges they are facing and the products they can get to us quickly. Our expanded range has very much been based around that; there is no point introducing something that we can’t get for six to eight weeks! Finally, if suppliers can offer merchandise to clubs in return for sponsorship and advertising, it would definitely be more appealing to clubs at the moment. www.barrowafc.com www.fingerprints.co.uk www.17sport.co.uk Breaking news: On 17 June 2020, Barrow AFC was promoted to the English Football League after a 48-year absence. The club released 72 new items of merch to celebrate the promotion within an hour of the news. “Shop sales have now risen 225,000% compared to this time last year with our new promotion range,” reported Ryan.